On the way to Mandalay
- Part 2 -

Prof E Bijoy kumar Singh *

Lai Haraoba ritual celebrated at Yechipao of Mandalay on 27 May 2015 :: Pix - R.K. Shivachandra

Once inside the bus Shri Tapir Gao, former member of Lok Sabha, who is the advisor of Indo Myanmar Fraternal Alliance reminded us that from now onwards we were all Indians. No one is from Manipur or Arunachal Pradesh. We are all goodwill ambassadors from India. The AC bus left for Mandalay at 4 pm MST. We were told that we would be reaching Mandalay by 8am the next day and would have the whole day for rest.

It was a hot day and we were too happy to be seated inside the cool bus, not bothering much to see the scenery on the way. Once we settled down and the AC refreshed us, we set aside our curtains and started absorbing every sight and sound of Myanmar that came our way. We stopped at a roadside dhaba around 7pm for tea.

Myanmar was the only word we could make out from the signboards on the hotel. Our ubiquitous tea had disappeared and everyone was requesting kamala to communicate properly. The hotel waiters spoke only Myanmarese. In fact English is a poor third language in Myanmar. Most of the people speak Burmese and Mandarine Chinese. My son Rabi and his friend Sunshine somehow managed to order using their mobile chicken chowmein which would ultimately prove to be a wise decision as the next stop would ultimately be at around 11.30 pm.

It was too early for dinner and Kamala also assured us of another roadside stop at around 9 pm. It was a joyful ride and some of us kept on cracking jokes after jokes. Everyone seemed to be in a laughing club. We settled down in the bus and most of us woke up around 11.30pm when our bus stopped at another dhaba.

It obviously was a wrong choice as the hotel had only cold food at that time of the day and the menu suggested was a vegetarian's nightmare. My wife decided to do with plain rice and bikaneri bujiia which we had brought from home. I decided to sample whatever the hotel could provide and it was here that I discovered a sour vegetable soup like our sougri which would be offered everywhere we ate in Myanmar.

We must have dozed off as we resumed the drive. Everyone became quiet. The quiet of the night bus journey in the countryside was broken by the welcome sight of dawn in the horizon. Sunrise is always an experience whether it is in Darjeeling's Tiger hills or Merton beach in the USA. Everywhere the colour of sky at dawn can impress anyone.

Then at around 6 am we halted at another roadside dhaba called 52 miles where we refreshed ourselves and had coffee. It also provided a beautiful view of a valley. We spent nearly 45 minutes at this quiet place. What I will never forget was the sight of a cat frolicking with dogs.

The next stop was at the bridge across the Chindwin river. Some of us decided to cross the river on foot despite the heat of the day .Though the Chindwin flows entirely within Myanmar, the Tizu in Nagaland , the Yu and the Manipur rivers are its tributaries draining the eastern part of north east India. The Manipur river meets the Myittha, a tributary of the Chindwin.

The Myittha joins the Chindwin just below the town of Kalewa. Nagaland's LCS Avakhung in Phek District is to be connected to Tamanthi township on the bank of the Chindwin. The mighty Chindwin always exerts some inexplicable and irresistible pull on our people because hundreds of years ago our forefathers had often crossed this river and that would make us highly nostalgic. It is the largest tributary of the Irrawady and used to be known as Ningthi to the Manipuris.

King Garibniwaj(1709-1748) had led an army across the Ningthi and in 1738 reached as far as Sagaing opposite to the capital Ava.He had left his sword gash -marks on door of Kaungmudaw pagoda. King Gambhir Singh also had driven the Burmese occupation forces across the Ningthi at the end of Anglo Burmese war. According to Henry Yule's map the eastern boundary of Manipur during 1500 and 1580 AD extended beyond the Ningthi.

Manipuri cavalry had established themselves in this part of the world also. King Alungpaya raised a cavalry with Manipuri settlers to attack Siam (Thailand). Their descendents are now settled in Nandawsae, on the eastern side of Mandalay palace. The Manipuri settlements along Ningthi river stand testimony of our mobility in our past. In short this river used to be associated with our changing political fortune. It is not even 300 years and today we are mere tourists marvelling at the beauty of the river.

The next stop was at another eatery where we had our lunch. Communication without Kamala was almost impossible. Yet, she managed to provide most of us what we wanted this time. One gets innumerable oriental dishes here. Even hardcore vegetarians had a choice. Lots of fruits were also on display. Everything seemed to be costly as prices used to be quoted in thousand kyats with one Rupee being exchanged for around 18kyats. It was always in thousands.

We were nearing our destination. By 2.30 pm MST we checked into OWAY hotels in the heart of Mandalay. It is a three star hotel in central Mandalay at 78th street between 30th and 31st street. It is located near the Mandalay central Railway station. It turned out to be a very comfortable hotel with all basic amenities in place along with very polite and friendly staff. We were offered welcome drinks. Everyone rushed to their rooms to have the much needed rest after the strenuous ride from Moreh.

It took nearly 22 hours to travel the 469 km between Moreh and Mandalay. We could cover 110km between Imphal and Moreh in three hours. With better planning we could have done it in less number of hours. That was why, Kamala out of exasperation on our frequent stops told us that we would reach Mandalay in the night. The roads were narrow, essentially single lanes. Though most of the drive was in plain area the presence of countless narrow and rickety bridges must have slowed down the speed.

Most of the drive was through uninhabited area lined with countless teak trees. There were farming land all around with few settlements. There were many pagodas on the way. As the traffic grows, settlements of people catering to the needs of travellers will come up. Wider roads and easier visa formalities would make the traffic grow in no time. In the USA people drive long distances and the numerous rest houses on the way make such drives enjoyable.

In a recent seminar the facilities along Chandigarh–Delhi road were discussed which according to the experts were of recent origin. Now whenever I come from Chandigarh I take a night taxi ride to the Delhi airport . The difference between us and the Myanmarese can be attributed largely to the characters we adore- Krishna and Buddha. Buddha gave up everything and Krishna acquired everything.

Kamala is a regular in this circuit and she should learn to speak Manipuri or English more fluently and more often to be an ideal tourist guide. Most of the time we had little idea of what we had. Every place has a story to tell and there should be tourist guides who can explain and share with us the stories of the places to make our trips as memorable as possible. If the Myanmarese cannot pick up English, we should learn their language.

Concluded...